Manjoume Family Vacation
by SilvorMoon
Summary: The last thing Manjoume wants to do is spend time with his big brothers. When the three of them find themselves stranded together, though, they'll have to rely on each other to stay alive, if they don't kill each other first.
1. Departure

**Departure**

**By: SilvorMoon**

_Tonight,_ thought Manjoume, as he scooped up a fresh glass of punch, _is my night!_

He circulated, smiling at the other members of the crowd, enjoying the thought that they were noticing him. And why shouldn't they? He had just carried off the tournament's grand prize. He had been in the zone - every card had been there exactly when he'd wanted it, every play had come off flawlessly. It was as though he could read his opponents' thoughts. It was rare to experience such a perfect performance, and he was planning on enjoying it for all it was worth. Today, apparently, it was worth a hefty cash prize, a trophy with his name engraved on it, and an invitation to tonight's party.

He circulated, pausing to chat for a moment with a female reporter who was writing the society column, and graciously signed some autographs for a few of the other partygoers. Anyone observing him might have guessed that the party had been thrown in his honor.

In truth, he was lucky simply to be there. The party was a celebration thrown by Pegasus in honor of his scientific team, to celebrate the unveiling of their latest interdimensional transportation machine. He had sunk a considerable share of his fortune into creating stable portals to the world of monsters, and all progress in that regard was seen as something to celebrate. Or it was possible that he just liked parties - who could tell with Pegasus? The portal generator itself was on prominent display at the far side of the room, awaiting a demonstration later that evening. Several operators, looking highly scientific in their white lab coats, were milling around it, preparing it for the big moment. Manjoume ambled over to have a better look.

"It beats waving cards around," he observed.

"It does tend to be a fraction more precise, yes," one of the scientists said. He smiled and walked over to shake Manjoume's hand. "I saw your duel on television. Well played. You've improved since your school days, I must say."

"You're not kidding. I was _on fire_," Manjoume boasted. "Looks like you've been keeping busy over here, in your own little way."

Misawa looked amused, but then, he was used to Manjoume. The truth was that in the last two years, while Manjoume had been winning his way through various tournaments, Misawa had been dividing his time between developing the portal at the Industrial Illusions lab and doing fieldwork in the Duel Monster worlds. Manjoume noted that he was looking more suntanned than he had during his days at Duel Academia, and had grown his hair out some, presumably because he spent most of his time in the field these days and wasn't bothering to have it cut. He also looked happier, Manjoume thought.

A commotion behind him drew his attention, and he turned to see that the host of the party was approaching, sunny smile on his face and wineglass in hand.

"Well, if it isn't our young champion!" said Pegasus pleasantly. "Beautiful dueling today, my boy. It was a joy to behold."

"Oh, ah..." said Manjoume.

"I hope you will bring us many more entertaining duels in the future," said Pegasus. "I'll be watching you."

Manjoume groped for an answer. It was odd how he could boast and brag in front of just about anyone, but Pegasus had a way of robbing people of their words by his simple existence. It might have had something to do with the lopsided way he looked out at people from behind that curtain of hair. It might have had something to do with him being one of the most influential men in the world, but Manjoume was used to dealing with powerful people, and felt that it was probably just Pegasus's general oddness.

He was saved from having to answer by the arrival of a black-suited man.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, "but there's been a slight disturbance."

"What sort of disturbance?" asked Pegasus.

"Apparently someone has been offended by your behavior at some point," said the security guard.

"Well, that does narrow down the field," said Pegasus dryly. "I'll take care of it. Pardon me, gentlemen - duty calls."

He bowed politely to Manjoume and Misawa, and hurried off to see what the guard wanted.

"What was that all about?" Manjoume wondered aloud.

Misawa shrugged. "There has been a bit of backlash over this project. Some people seem to think that we're wasting our time trying to establish contact with other worlds when we could be... oh, I don't know, curing cancer or some such thing. Not that a physicist would know anything about curing cancer, but try telling that to some people."

"It's Pegasus's money," said Manjoume. "He can spend it on whatever he wants."

"That seems to be his opinion, too," said Misawa. "Others may differ."

Manjoume continued to circulate. There was a colorful crowd there that night, since the guest list consisted primarily of whoever Pegasus found interesting at the moment. Manjoume noted a scattering of movie stars and pop idols, a wide selection of duelists, representatives from a few charities Pegasus supported, various businessmen, and a few politicians looking for hands to shake. Manjoume made small talk with a gaggle of American duelists, reflecting that none of them would have lasted long against some of his old schoolmates. Or Manjoume himself. Many of the people at the party were carrying Duel Disks, including Manjoume himself, and Pegasus had cordoned off an area for the duelists to show their skills. Manjoume was on the verge of throwing down the gauntlet and seeing who was brave enough to face him, when he noticed a pair of familiar faces. He scowled and stalked across the room.

"What are you guys doing here?" he demanded.

Chosaku gave him a lofty look. "For your information, we were invited."

"Indeed," said Shoji. "Believe it or not, we do have a little bit of pull in the world."

"Yeah, well, you can go find some other party," said Manjoume. "I don't want anyone getting the idea I'm related to you two clowns."

"But we are related," Shoji pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I want people to notice," Manjoume replied.

"Hate to break it to you, little brother," said Chosaku, "but it's not up to you who gets to come to this party. Sounds to me like some people have gotten a swelled head, just because they've won a tournament or two..."

Manjoume was preparing a cutting comeback, but was interrupted by the sound of people shouting. Normally this wouldn't have bothered him, but it sounded as though they were coming closer, and it sounded as though one of them was Pegasus. Manjoume decided to move a bit nearer to the action, and his brothers, unfortunately, appeared to have the same idea.

"...ask you to calm down," Pegasus was saying, "or I'm afraid I am going to have to be forceful with you."

"You can't tell me what to do!" the other man shouted back. His voice was high-pitched with hysteria. "You're just prejudiced against me! You just don't want me telling people the truth!"

"Trust me, if you had any truth to tell, I would be happy to let you tell it," said Pegasus. "However, I have yet to hear you say anything that even begins to qualify, so please stop disturbing my party."

"You're committing crimes against nature!" the man screamed. "Don't you understand? If you open this portal and start letting monsters into this country, they'll start taking over! And you're encouraging them! I happen to know one of your scientists is committing unspeakable acts with a beast!"

Misawa looked uncomfortable. "Here, now, that's getting a little personal."

Manjoume smirked. "I'd like to see him call Taniya that to her face. He wouldn't say it more than once."

To tell the truth, he was enjoying the spectacle. Watching other people make fools of themselves was one of life's little pleasures. As far as he was concerned, this was just enlivening an otherwise ordinary party. It would give people something to talk about.

The man continued screaming, getting increasingly agitated - probably due in part to the fact that Pegasus apparently couldn't resist needling him. Security people were already moving forward to remove the man before he could disrupt things any further. Manjoume sighed, sensing things were about to go back to normal. He began to turn away, thinking to refill his drink.

Then the man made a sudden lunge. He dove around the security guard who had been trying to grab him, barged through a group of interested onlookers. They shrieked and backed away from him, spilling their cocktails in their haste to escape. The man ignored all of them and ran straight towards the portal.

"No, don't touch it!" Misawa shouted, but the man ignored him. He rushed towards the control panel, battering aside anyone who tried to get near him. Misawa made an abortive attempt to head him off, but it was clearly already too late.

Manjoume was hardly paying attention. He had just noticed that his brothers had wandered over to where the machine stood to get a better view of the action, and were standing just a few feet away from it, watching all the commotion with expressions that suggested that this was not the kind of behavior they were accustomed to, and they were considering going someplace with more class. They were standing too close.

"Damn it!" Manjoume snarled, and went racing towards them, knocking aside a server with a tray of canapes as he ran.

"Jun, what are you doing?" Shoji snapped. "You're making a mess!"

"You guys need to move!" Manjoume shouted back. "You're too close to the machine!"

"Relax," said Chosaku, tossing off the last of his drink. "Somebody will catch him in a minute."

"You don't understand!" said Manjoume. "Do you have any idea what that thing could do?"

"Sure," said Chosaku. "It's some kind of portal. I don't see what that's got to do with..."

He never got any further. The security guards had closed in on the man and had begun dragging him away, but with a last burst of determination, he reached out and managed to yank a switch. The machine gave a warning hum, and a sudden flare of light filled the room.

"Oh, _great_," Manjoume said, rolling his eyes. "Here we go again."

The light level continued to grow until there was nothing to see but pure white light. Then, with the suddenness of a rubber band snapping, the room went back to normal. People stood around blinking and rubbing their eyes.

"Is everyone all right?" Misawa called.

There were murmurs from the crowd. Somewhere in the background, Pegasus's bodyguards were wrestling the perpetrator to the ground, but no one was paying much attention to that. They seemed to be more concerned with making sure they were all in one piece. Misawa was the first to notice something was wrong.

"Wait a moment," he said, mostly to himself. "Where did Manjoume go?"

No one answered. Manjoume and his brothers had disappeared.

* * *

Manjoume's first impression was that there were birds calling somewhere, and was confused. He lived in a city apartment, where there were no birds but pigeons to disturb him. For a moment, he wondered if he had somehow found his way back to Duel Academia, but that didn't explain why there seemed to be a stick poking him in the back. He thought he had better open his eyes and see what was going on.

There were trees above him. They appeared to be some sort of palm species, with leaves edged in purple. While he was still looking up at these and blinking in confusion, a pair of birds with long trailing tails flew by, calling to each other.

"What in...?" Manjoume began, and then he remembered: the portal machine, the madman, the flash of light. He sighed. "Great. Just _peachy_."

Still, he had been in worse situations. At least there was nothing here that wanted to kill him specifically, as far as he knew. He stirred a little, trying to remember which way his limbs were supposed to go. As he did so, he heard a groan.

"Who's there?" he called.

He got up and looked around. A few yards away, his brothers were lying sprawled across the leafy ground, looking incongruous in their expensively tailored suits. Manjoume stared at them a moment, and then looked imploringly up at the sky.

"What did I do to deserve this?" he demanded.

His only answer was another groan. Shoji pressed a hand over his face.

"Damn, what did I drink?" he muttered.

"You're not that lucky," said Manjoume. "Come on, get up! Both of you on your feet! We're in a situation here."

"Shut up," said Chosaku into the leaves.

Manjoume flipped him over with one foot.

"I said _up_," he said.

Shoji was already sitting up and looking around. He frowned, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Manjoume sighed.

"Hate to break it to you, but this is real," he said. "We've gotten ourselves zapped into the Duel Monsters worlds. One of them, anyway."

"You mean we're on another planet?" asked Shoji.

Manjoume started to say it wasn't exactly like that, and then realized that he wasn't exactly sure whether that was true or not.

"Sure," he said. "Call it another planet. Might as well."

"Right, tell me another one," said Chosaku.

Manjoume glared at him. "Does this look like Earth to you? Look, maybe you missed it, but we're in the middle of a freaking _jungle_. We can't just call a cab and go home. This is serious."

"What are you worried about?" Chosaku scoffed. "It's not like you care what happens to us..."

"Oh, for the love of..." Manjoume muttered. "Look, ordinarily I be happy to let you two do your own thing and leave me alone, but this is different. I've been to this place before, and you two can't handle it. If you don't want to get eaten by a monster, you're going to have to stick with me and do as I say."

"Yeah? Well, fat chance of that happening," said Chosaku. He got up and dusted himself. "I wouldn't trust you if you said the sky was blue. You're just trying to frighten us, and it won't work."

"Ah, Chosaku..." said Shoji, looking around uneasily, "Jun might have a point. This place doesn't look right..."

"You're letting him get to you," said Chosaku. "I don't know how we got here, but I'm going back to civilization and then I'm going home, and you can either come with me or stay here."

He began walking away. Shoji glanced from his little brother to Chosaku and back again before reluctantly following.

"You'll be sorry!" Manjoume shouted at them.

They didn't listen. Manjoume sighed and began trudging behind them.

They were about ten yards ahead of him when there was a sudden crunching in the underbrush. The next thing any of them knew, an enormous tiger leapt out of the shrubbery and pounced on the two elder brothers, pinning them to the ground with its front paws.

"Trespassers!" it snarled. "Explain yourselves before I break your necks."

"Jun!" Shoji shouted. "Help! Get this crazy animal off of us!"

Manjoume sauntered into the clearing and sized up the situation. He looked at the tiger. The tiger looked at him.

"Oh, hey, Taniya," he said. "Long time no see."

"Hello," said the tiger. "I remember you. One of Misawa's friends. Manjoume, wasn't it?"

"That's me," he agreed. "Sorry I missed the wedding."

"Oh, don't worry. It was a small _private_ affair."

"Gotcha," said Manjoume. "I was just talking to your husband at the party earlier. Looks like you're taking good care of him."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," said Chosaku. "Are you telling me that Dr. Misawa is married to a _tiger_?"

Taniya dug her claws into his back. "Did you have something to say about that?"

"Er... only that he's obviously a discriminating gentleman with very good taste."

"I thought so," she said.

"Anyway, do you think you could let these guys go?" asked Manjoume. "As a personal favor."

"Oh, are they yours?" asked Taniya. "Are you sure you want them back? They look useless."

"They are," Manjoume agreed, "but they're family. What can I do?"

"Hm, well, I suppose you have to look out for your clan, no matter how useless they are," said Taniya.

She stepped aside, and the two men gasped as the weight of several hundred pounds of tiger was removed from their backs. While the brothers sat up and dusted themselves off, Taniya threw back her head and rose onto her hind paws. An aura of golden light surrounded her, and suddenly there was no longer a tiger, but a shapely woman. The brothers stared openly.

"I can see why he married the tiger," said Chosaku, giving Shoji a nudge.

Taniya gripped his chin and jerked it upwards.

"Eyes up _here_," she said.

"Don't pay any attention to them," said Manjoume. "Anyway, do you think you could put us in touch with Misawa? He's probably the only one who can tell us how to get home right now."

Taniya nodded. "I suppose it's the least I can do for an old friend." She turned to Shoji and Chosaku. "You two follow and stay out of trouble. Don't wander off."

"Do I look crazy to you?" asked Shoji. He was already looking around nervously, as if expecting more tigers to manifest. "I'm not going anywhere alone!"

Chosaku gave a vague grunt, but he obviously realized that he was not going to get out of this situation on his own. He fell into step behind Taniya and the others as she led the way through the forest. Manjoume was rather pleased to note that his brothers were having difficulty navigating through the foliage. They were dressed in their party best, right down to their expensive Italian shoes, which were not at all meant for walking any distance on rough ground. Manjoume was wearing the same comfortable shoes and tattered black jacket that he wore everywhere and wasn't worried about getting it any more dirty and threadbare than it already was, so he simply barged through whatever was in his way while his brothers tried to avoid snagging themselves on anything.

After they had covered some distance, they eventually came to a wide clearing, which was dominated by a tree stump the size of a three storey building at its center. Someone had come along at some point and hollowed it out, adding a door and several windows. Manjoume could see a thin wisp of smoke trailing out of a chimney. A small patch of ground had been cleared off to one side, and a garden full of neatly tended vegetables grew there.

"The garden is Misawa's," said Taniya conversationally, as she ushered them inside. "He says it gives him something to do with his hands besides write on the walls. You should hear him, lecturing the runner beans on physics. We must have the most educated vegetables in the world."

Manjoume snorted. "I can imagine."

The inside of the house was sparse but comfortable. The front door opened into a sitting area with a large fireplace and a few wooden chairs and large cushions arranged around it, with the skin of some large shaggy animal providing a rug. Beyond that was a kitchen with a potbellied stove and bunches of fragrant herbs hanging from the ceiling. Taniya led them past all that to a staircase leading up to the second floor. From there, she escorted them down a narrow hallway and through a door at the end.

"This is Misawa's workroom," she said. "I don't go in here very often, but there's a machine I'm supposed to use to call him if I need him..."

There were machines. They looked out of place amid the wooden ambiance of the hollow tree. They were piled everywhere, haphazardly, trailing wires and bits of circuitry, as though begun and then forgotten. What wasn't covered in machine parts was strewn with papers covered in arcane-looking equations. Manjoume wasn't surprised to see that there were equations on the walls as well.

"He hasn't changed a bit," he said.

"Ah, here it is," said Taniya.

She pulled out something that looked like an old-fashioned radio, one that had been somewhat inexpertly repaired. She unfolded a complex weblike structure, which seemed to be some sort of antenna, and twiddled some knobs. The machine gave off a spurt of static. She twitched a different knob until the static subsided, and then pressed a button, prompting the machine to give off a gentle hum. Then there was an abrupt click.

"Hello?" said Misawa's voice, echoing tinnily.

"Oh, good it works," said Taniya.

"Ah, Taniya. It's good to hear your voice," said Misawa, "but I've got a bit of a situation on my hands at the moment. I trust this is important?"

"I think so. Are you missing some humans?" she replied.

"As a matter of fact, I am. Three of them, to be precise. Have you found them, then?"

"It looks that way," said Taniya.

"Well, thank heavens for that. I was worried," Misawa replied, relief clear in his voice. "Is Manjoume with you? Can you put him on the line?"

"I'm here," said Manjoume. "I hope you're working on a way to get us back home!"

"Ah, yes, about that," said Misawa. "Whatever that fellow did to set the machine off, he didn't do it very well. None of the security measures were in place, and when he threw the switch, it caused a power surge. Half our systems are completely shut down."

"So, what does that mean?" asked Manjoume, feeling his stomach sink.

"The good news is, not everything is completely non-operational," said Misawa. "The bad news is, the rig I use to transport from where you are now is only a very small system, and it can't provide enough power on its own to safely send someone. The machines on this end of things will have to be repaired before it can be used."

"And how long is that going to take?" Chosaku demanded.

"Judging by what we know of the damage at the moment, I'd say... about two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Shoji yelped. "I can't stay here two weeks! I've got a business to run."

"Settle down and let me finish," said Misawa patiently. "My home rig isn't powerful enough to bring you home, but it's not the only rig I have set up. Before I built that one, I had another system at a place called Tempest Top, and it's much more powerful because it has its own generator. I haven't used it in months, but it's probably still there and still functioning."

"Tempest Top is about three days' walk from here," Taniya explained. "I haven't patrolled that way recently, but I don't think there should be too many monsters in that direction - nothing you can't handle, at least."

"Three days," Chosaku muttered. "Well, it's better than two weeks..."

"If you make good time, yes," said Misawa. "There's a communicator set up there that you can use to call me, and I'll explain how to set up the transportation system on your end. If I haven't heard from you in five days, I'll send for help." He was quiet for a moment. "I suppose if worst comes to worst, we could always try to get hold of Juudai..."

"I'm not calling him," said Manjoume. "Not unless it's a choice between that and the world coming to an end."

"Suit yourself," said Misawa. "Taniya will be able to give you directions to Tempest Top. I'll be doing everything I can on my end to be ready when you get there."

"We'll make it," Manjoume promised.

After he had signed off, Taniya chased them all downstairs again. She ordered them to sit down in the sitting area, which they did with some relief - it had been a bit of a trek to get this far, and all of them were glad to have a chance to rest their feet. While they were relaxing, Taniya rattled around in the kitchen. After a few minutes, she reappeared carrying a canvas bag, which contained several mysterious bulges.

"Here," she said, plunking it in front of Manjoume. "This is the best I can do for you. There's enough food here to last you for three days if you don't waste it, and some supplies you might need. You can return the bag to Misawa when you get home."

"Thanks," said Manjoume, sincerely. It meant something when someone gave you enough food to last three people for three days, when she was obviously living on what she could hunt or harvest.

"You'll need this, too," she said, and spread a roll of paper on the coffee table in front of him. He leaned forward get a better look. Taniya had sketched a rough map, with the tree stump marked in the bottom corner and Tempest Top inked in red near the top.

"Here is where we are now," she said, pointing. "You walk north until you come to the river, and follow it upstream. Eventually you'll come to a place where the river widens, and you'll see an island in the middle. When you reach that, turn and head west and you'll come to a road. Just keep following that to the northwest. It will take you to a village where you can buy or barter for more supplies, if you need them. From there, just keep following the road until you come to a fork, and take the rightmost path. You should be able to see Tempest Top after you've followed that for a while. It's the tallest hill in the range, and there's a big watchtower on top. You can't miss it."

Manjoume nodded and rolled up the map, tucking it into the bag with the supplies.

"Guess we'd better hit the road," he said, shouldering the bag. "Come on, you two. Let's make tracks."

"I'm not going anywhere yet," said Chosaku. "We just got here!"

"And now we're leaving," said Manjoume.

"Oh, it's all right," said Taniya, winking at him. "If they want to stay here, I'm sure I can find work for them to do. With Misawa at the lab, someone is going to have to weed the garden. Oh, and I have a lot of pelts that need scraping, and the chimney is going to need cleaning again soon..."

"We're going, we're going!" said Shoji. He leapt to his feet and dragged Chosaku after him.

"I had a feeling," said Taniya, visibly amused. "If you want my advice... stick together, don't stray away from the route I showed you, and keep your cards handy. Other than that, you're on your own."

Manjoume dragged his brothers out of the house, and, after a final goodbye to their erstwhile hostess, herded them away in the direction of the river. He tried to ignore their grumbling.

"Three days. I can't believe it," Shoji was complaining. "Do you know how much can happen in three days?"

"I have an important dinner meeting tomorrow," Chosaku groused.

"Yeah, well, I have work too, you know," said Manjoume. "My agent is going to kill me for this. Not to mention what my sponsors are going to do..."

"Hmph. You can play it off," said Chosaku. "The great duelist Manjoume Thunder, battling monsters in the other world. Your fans will love it."

Manjoume gave him a look. "You're a politician through and through."

"So what else is new?" Chosaku replied.

There was a small puff of smoke by Manjoume's ear, and something appeared next to him. His elder brothers jumped in surprise, but Manjoume didn't even flinch. He was used to it by now.

"Oh, boy, oh, boy," said Ojama Yellow, dancing in excitement. "This is going to be great! A band of brothers off on a whirlwind adventure!"

"What the hell is that?" Chosaku exclaimed.

"It's... an Ojama," said Shoji, leaning forward for a better look. "I think it's real."

Manjoume rolled his eyes. "No, genius, it's a figment of your imagination. We're in the monster world, remember? So you're going to see monsters!"

"Well, make it go away!" said Chosaku.

"No can do," said Manjoume. "Believe me, I've tried. Sorry, the Ojamas go where I go, and that's all there is to it."

"Aw, we love you too," said Ojama Yellow.

"Wait, wait, hold it," said Shoji. "You're acting like these things follow you around on a regular basis."

"They do."

"I've never seen them before," said Shoji.

"You wouldn't," said Manjoume. "Not everybody can see them. At least, not in our world."

"Now you're just talking nonsense," Chosaku scoffed.

Manjoume scowled. On the one hand, it was embarrassing having to discuss his relationship with the Ojamas in front of his brothers (all three of the little monsters were there now, hovering over his shoulders to hear what he'd say about them), but on the other hand, he didn't want them thinking he was completely off his rocker, either.

"Look," he said. "It's like... there's our world, and then there's this place."

"Obviously," said Shoji.

"Right. And then there's the cards. They're like windows between the two worlds, and sometimes a monster gets through to our side. Only in our place, they're just spirits, so not everybody can see them."

"But you can," said Chosaku, doubtfully.

"It's a gift," said Manjoume, raising his chin a little. "Or a curse. It just so happens I'm good at it. Juudai can do it too. And Johan Anderson, and Fujiwara Yusuke. Oh, and Maeda Hayato - he works for Industrial Illusions now. Probably some other people I don't know. It's a real thing - ask around."

"So, what, you're some kind of psychic or something?" asked Shoji.

"No, it's more like... You know, just forget it," said Manjoume. "You never listen to me anyway."

"You're talking about seeing invisible monsters," said Chosaku.

Manjoume simply pointed to the creatures hovering over his shoulder, who were watching the exchange like spectators at a tennis match. Chosaku scowled and turned his attention to the ground in front of him.

A few moments later, Shoji nudged Manjoume in the ribs.

"Where can I get an invisible monster?" he whispered.

Manjoume was so surprised that for a moment, all he could do was stare.

"They aren't worth the bother," he said. "But if one wants you, it will find you."

They trudged in silence for a while. They were walking through forest, but it wasn't dense here, and plenty of sunshine was slanting down on them as they walked. It was odd to be traveling in broad daylight when it had been night not long ago, at least where Manjoume had been last. Thankfully, he was used to keeping odd hours, what with all the traveling he was obligated to do as a duelist. He wondered if his big brothers were up to spending a whole day walking after they had already been up all day. He suspected they weren't.

"So," said Chosaku, after some time had passed, "explain to me one thing."

"What?" asked Manjoume warily.

"Explain to me how a noted scientist ended up married to a tiger."

"It's a long story, and you probably wouldn't believe it anyway."

Chosaku turned to scowl at him. "I'm stranded in a jungle. I just got done talking to a woman who turns into a giant cat. There are little googly-eyed monsters following us around. I think I can suspend my disbelief just a little. And apparently I have a three-day hike ahead of me, so I don't care what you tell me, as long as it's interesting enough to take my mind off my aching feet."

"Fine, then," said Manjoume. He paused a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Okay, Duel Academia is built over this chamber, and there are these cards sealed inside, and if they ever get used, it's a _really, really bad thing_. But there was this crazy old guy who wanted to use them anyway, so..."

He trudged along, relating the story as best he could remember it. He played down the business about swiping the keys to get Asuka to duel with him, but otherwise kept the story as accurate as possible. It was amazing, really: his brothers listened and didn't interrupt him, except to ask the occasional question. Possibly it was only because they were too tired from all the hiking they were doing (they certainly did sound out of breath), but it was still a novel experience to have their undivided attention.

_I could get used to this,_ he thought.

As the sun began to redden with the onset of evening, Chosaku threw himself down onto the ground.

"That's it," he said. "I can't go another step."

Shoji sighed and leaned heavily against a tree, letting himself slump into a heap. "You can say that again."

"You guys are amateurs," said Manjoume.

Truth be told, he was feeling a bit run down himself, but he wasn't going to admit that now. Instead, he crouched down and let the pack he'd been carrying slide off his shoulders. He hadn't actually taken the time to see what Taniya had given them before, so now he opened the bag to see what was inside. A quick investigation showed that she had been quite generous. There was a packet of smoked meat, some kind of flat bread, a bundle of potato-like vegetables, and some dried fruit, as well as a bottle of herbed oil to soften the bread and meat. She'd also given them a small but sharp knife, a little cooking pot, a flint and a piece of steel, a compass, a length of rope, some strong twine and few fish-hooks. He made a mental note to send her something very nice as a thank-you as soon as he got back.

"Big Brother, I'm hungry!" Ojama Yellow whined.

"I'm hungry too!" Ojama Green chimed in.

"Me three!" Ojama Black agreed.

"All right, all right! We'll eat something," said Manjoume.

Chosaku gave him a glare. "You aren't thinking of giving our food to those _things_, were you?"

"You weren't thinking of _not_ sharing with them, were you?" Manjoume retorted, an edge of danger in his voice.

"We only have enough food for the three of us," Shoji, always the economical one, pointed out. "And that's assuming we make it to Tempest Top in three days. We can't afford to be feeding them, too. They're natives here - they should know how to find their own food."

"Actually, we've never been to this part of the world before," said Ojama Black helpfully.

"There, you see?" said Manjoume. "Anyway, it's not your decision, it's mine, and I say they get a share."

"Who says it's your decision?" Chosaku snapped. "In case you've forgotten, I am the head of this family and I make the decisions around here!"

"Screw that!" said Manjoume. "You don't tell me what to do! I've got my own life and _you're not part of it_. Do you understand? Or do you want me to say it slower so it'll sink into your thick head?"

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Chosaku shouted.

"I'll talk to you however the hell I want! It's not like you give me any respect."

"Well, maybe you don't deserve any!"

"As if! Are you forgetting I'm the one who's keeping you safe in this crazy place? If it weren't for me, you'd be tiger food by now. I ought to just walk off and leave you two to fend for yourself for a while. Then maybe you'd be grateful for my help, if there's anything left of you by the time I get back."

"And how much of us is going to be left if you feed all our food to those little monsters?" Shoji demanded.

"You won't starve to death in three days!" Manjoume snapped. "And frankly, these monsters have done me more good than you two slobs have ever done, so if you two have to starve for them then I don't care."

"That's no way to talk to your family," said Chosaku.

"If you two were family, maybe I'd talk to you better," said Manjoume, turning his back on them. "But you two disowned me, remember? So you don't have any right to tell me anything. Come on, guys," he said to the Ojamas. "Let's go look for some firewood."

"Don't you turn your back on me!" Chosaku shouted after him.

"Let him go," said Shoji. "We're not going to get anywhere if we start trying to throttle each other now."

If Manjoume had been in a more forgiving mood, he might have been grateful to Shoji for that mild show of support. As it was, he stomped off into the forest, ignoring the Ojamas hovering worriedly behind him. He could hear Chosaku complaining, but at least now he was complaining to Shoji instead.

"You know, we really don't eat that much," said Ojama Green.

"Don't worry about it," Manjoume muttered. "Those guys are just being jerks. I ought to just walk off and leave them to fend for themselves. It's not like they like me."

"But they're your brothers!" Ojama Yellow protested.

"Yeah, well, just because I'm related to them doesn't mean I have to like them," said Manjoume. He began gathering up an armload of dry sticks. "They were okay when we were all kids... Then they grew up and got jobs and got all stuffy."

He finished gathering up all the wood he could carry and retraced his steps back to their makeshift campsite. His brothers appeared to have gotten bored waiting for him, or were too exhausted to care one way or the other; they were lying still with their eyes closed. Manjoume thought they were both asleep, but when he started setting up the campfire, Shoji opened his eyes and watched him silently. Manjoume ignored him. He swept an area of ground clear of leaves and twigs, and laid down some stones in a rough circle. In the center of the ring, he piled some dry grasses and crumpled leaves, along with a bit of fluff he'd scooped from the bottom of his pockets. He used the flint and steel to send a few sparks into the pile and blew on it gently until it began to flame, and then began feeding it twigs.

"I didn't know you knew how to do that," Shoji remarked.

"I picked it up at North School," said Manjoume. "It's cold up there. Knowing how to build a fire is useful." He fed a few more twigs to the fire, and decided that it was burning well enough to pile some thicker sticks on. He arranged them carefully, avoiding meeting his brother's eyes.

"You're serious about protecting those little monsters, aren't you?" asked Shoji.

"Oh, so you're finally catching on."

Shoji shrugged. "If we have to, we can probably buy more supplies when we get to the village."

"So suddenly you're on my side?" asked Manjoume suspiciously.

"I'm just being rational. You said it yourself - we aren't going to starve in three days. And frankly, I'm too tired to fight over it."

"Gee, thanks."

Shoji glanced over at his older brother, who had begun to snore softly, before turning back to Manjoume.

"Don't be too hard on Chosaku," he said. "He hates not knowing what to do."

"That explains why he's cranky all the time."

"Listen to you. You think you're so special," Shoji scoffed. "Manjoume Thunder, pro duelist, hero to the masses. Did you ever stop to think that you're not easy to get along with yourself? Face it, you're a spoiled brat."

"Who are you calling a spoiled brat?" asked Manjoume indignantly. "Do you have any idea what I've been through while you've been sitting on your butt counting your money?"

"It doesn't matter what you've been through. You're still a spoiled brat. Everything is all about you, you, you. You've never once stopped to think about our feelings."

"_You_ kicked _me_ out. You called me a disgrace. Why should I give you any sympathy?"

"Maybe because you made fools of us in front of millions of people? Maybe because you could have won that stupid duel if you had just listened to us? Maybe because thanks to you, our group has broken up?"

"I wasn't the one who told you to get lost."

"You as good as said it when you stopped listening to us," said Shoji. "Why couldn't you have just done like we told you? Then everything would be all right..."

"I just found something different, that's all," said Manjoume.

"Was it more important than your family?"

Manjoume glared. "Look, it's not about something being more important. I've just got my own way of doing things."

"Why do you have to do it that way?" asked Shoji, sounding close to whining.

"Because it's _my way_," Manjoume replied. "It's my way, and I have to do it that way because no other way is going to work."

"Couldn't you at least make an effort?"

Manjoume glared. "What do you care?"

"We used to be friends, Jun. We still could be. Chosaku would be willing to let bygones be bygones if you'd just show a little more willingness to cooperate."

"Some things are not negotiable," said Manjoume. He stood up and dusted himself off. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting something to eat... and so are they!" he added, pointing at the Ojamas.

"Have it your way," said Shoji.

They shared a meager meal. The food was good, what little Manjoume allowed them to have, particularly after it had been warmed over the fire. He made sure his Ojamas had all they wanted, while watching out of the corner of his eye as his big brothers bolted their meager shares. As they ate, the sun sank out of sight and plunged the forest into darkness. The thick canopy of leaves above their heads did not let even a shred of moonlight pass. The only point of light in the forest was their campfire.

"I guess we'd better get some sleep," said Manjoume. "Either of you two want to take first watch?"

"Watch?" repeated Shoji.

"Yeah. To make sure nothing comes out of the forest and eats us while we sleep," said Manjoume.

"What would we do if something did come to eat us?" asked Chosaku with a slight sneer. "Ask it politely to leave us alone?"

"I don't know what you would do," said Manjoume. "I'd summon a monster and kick the crap out of it. You can do that in this world." He tapped his Duel Disk significantly.

"You just play the card and it comes to life?" asked Choskau, showing a flicker of interest.

"You catch on quick," Manjoume retorted.

"Fine. I'll take first watch, then. Loan me your Disk," said Chosaku.

Manjoume stared at him, taken by surprise. "What are you going to put in it?"

"This," said Chosaku. He reached into his pocket and took out a deck of cards; Manjoume recognized them as the jewel dragons that his brothers had offered him once before - the same ones Chosaku had used when Manjoume had dueled him for the school. "You didn't want it, so I kept it."

"Why are you carrying it around?" asked Manjoume.

"I was just at a party hosted by the inventor of Duel Monsters. Do you know what a card with his signature is worth?"

"Right. Should have known," Manjoume said.

On the other hand, he was tired, and Chosaku was the only one of them who had gotten any sleep, and the monsters in that deck should be strong enough to handle anything that came their way. Taniya had said they weren't likely to run into anything too dangerous, after all. Besides, if something bad _did_ happen, the screaming would probably wake Manjoume up in time to do something about it.

"Okay, then," he said, placing his Disk in his brother's hands. "But don't do anything stupid. And don't let the fire go out."

Chosaku looked like he might say something in response, but instead he simply nodded and locked the Disk in place, slotting his cards into it. Manjoume couldn't help but notice that his movements were clumsy compared to the practiced motions he saw in the people he dueled, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he stretched out on the ground and tugged his jacket around him. The air had been sultry all day, but now that the sun was down, it was growing rapidly cooler. He ignored the Ojamas as they snuggled down alongside him. They may not have been the most impressive of companions, but they were keeping his back warm, and that was worth something. On the other side of the fire, Shoji stretched out and attempted to make himself comfortable.

"This suit isn't going to be fit to wear after this," he muttered.

"Buy a new suit," said Manjoume. "You can afford it."

"Is this why you always wear that ridiculous black jacket?" Shoji asked.

"I like my jacket. It's comfortable," Manjoume replied. "It's practical. It doesn't show stains."

"Since when do you worry about that?"

"Since I started living in Osiris Red," said Manjoume, "and had to do my own laundry."

"That would explain the smell."

Manjoume decided not to dignify that remark with an explanation. Instead, he rolled over on his back, scattering Ojamas, and stared up at the leafy canopy. The only sounds were the crackle of the fire, the chirping of some sort of night creatures, and the steady trudge of Chosaku walking around and around the campsite.

_Keeping away monsters,_ he thought drowsily. That had been a long time ago, when he had been a little boy and still convinced that there were Things living in his closet and under his bed. He'd lived in a big house, after all, and he had a big closet and a big bed. You could hide some scary monsters in there. Of course, now he was grown up and well aware that the monsters under his bed and in his closet were pretty harmless, but it had been different when he was young and his parents were rarely around. Back then, there had been no one but his big brother to run to. And every time, Chosaku would roll his eyes and set his homework aside and shine a flashlight into the dark places to show him that there were definitely no monsters...

Somewhere in the midst of these memories, Manjoume fell asleep with the sound of his brother's footsteps beating a rhythmic pulse in the background.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Touring

**Touring**

**By: SilvorMoon**

Manjoume woke up in a cold gray dawn. He twitched a little, turning toward the nearest source of warmth and pulling his jacket more closely around him. It took him a little while to remember why he was lying on the ground, and why he was so cold. He groaned.

"Good morning, Big Brother!" squeaked an Ojama in his ear.

"Ergh," he said.

He rolled over an forced himself to sit up, ignoring the protests of his stiff muscles, and looked around to take stock of his situation. Morning had not so much arrived as crept in with its head down hoping not to be noticed. There was light, in a gray, diffuse sort of way, most of it blotted out by the trees and a thin mist that blurred the edges of the world. The fire had burned down to embers, but they were still glowing warmly, and someone had piled a few more sticks next to it. A few feet away, Chosaku was sleeping soundly, his head pillowed on his expensive jacket. Shoji was leaning against a tree, wearing Manjoume's Duel Disk and looking half asleep.

"What time is it?" Manjoume said.

Shoji looked up at him. "Your guess is as good as mine. My watch is still on California time. But it only just started getting light."

"Good enough," said Manjoume. "How long have you been up?"

"Four hours, maybe."

"Better go back to bed then," said Manjoume. "Chosaku's not going anywhere on four hours of sleep."

"What bed?" said Shoji, but he lay down anyway. Within moments, he was snoring.

Manjoume kept watch over the campsite, patiently keeping watch over his brothers while they slept. He reflected that they were much easier to get along with this way. They didn't shout at him or criticize him or order him around while they were sleeping - they just snored and drooled onto the leaves, which wasn't much different from how the Ojamas behaved. He could cope.

Eventually, the sun rose enough that the forest started growing properly light, and the mist burned away. Manjoume stirred the embers of the fire and added some fresh fuel. Once he had some proper flames going, he started toasting a few things for breakfast. The scent was enough to start his brothers stirring again.

"Did you see any monsters last night?" Manjoume asked.

"Who knows?" said Chosaku, still blinking and rubbing his eyes. "I thought I heard things moving around, but none of them came close enough for me to get a look at them." He seemed rather more subdued this morning, and Manjoume wondered if spending the night alone, staring into the dark watching for monsters, had impressed upon him just what was at stake here.

"Good. Can I have my Disk back?"

Shoji wordlessly passed him the Disk, and Manjoume inspected it carefully to make sure it wasn't damaged. He fitted it back onto his arm and immediately felt better. Chosaku and Shoji should realize, he thought, just how lucky they were to borrow that from him.

While they were munching on their meager breakfast, Manjoume took out the map and inspected it, attempting to look like he understood what he was seeing. It hadn't been drawn to any particular scale, as far as he could tell. Not that it would have helped, since he didn't know how many miles they had covered to begin with.

"We should reach the river today," he observed.

"You mean, assuming we're not wandering in circles," Chosaku groused. He had not been at all pleased with his share of breakfast, nor at the state he'd discovered his clothes were in on full wakening, and he was still not in the best of moods.

"We're not going in circles," said Manjoume, though he was not really sure of any such thing. As far as he could tell, just from looking at the map, as long as they didn't manage to completely reverse their direction, they ought to reach the river sooner or later no matter which way they went, so he was not going to let anyone see him show signs of uncertainty.

It took all his powers of persuasion to get his brothers on their feet and on the move again. He marched behind them, herding them along, not trusting them not to slack off without some motivation.

_Though I don't know why I bother._ He was reasonably certain that if the roles were reversed, they would have left him behind. He suspected the only reason why they hadn't just taken the supplies and walked off while he slept last night was that they weren't entirely confident in their ability to handle any monsters and were counting on him to take care of them.

Still, he couldn't forget that Chosaku had been guarding him last night... Manjoume shook his head.

_He was guarding himself. That's all there is to it. Don't think about it._

"Hey, Big Brother!" Ojama Yellow chirped in his ear, "when we get to the river, can we go swimming? I brought my swimsuit!"

"This isn't a pleasure trip, bean brain," said Manjoume, rolling his eyes. "We don't have time to go swimming."

"Aw, but it'd be fun..."

"Says you. For all we know, that river is full of mutant mechanical sharks or something," said Manjoume. "You said yourself, you don't know anything about this place."

"Where _did_ they come from, anyway?" asked Shoji.

"Oh, we come from a wonderful land," said Ojama Black happily. "It's called Ojama Country. There are beautiful plateaus full of huge flowers, and trees full of fruit, and lovely Ojama villages..."

"You mean there are more of you clowns? Just great," said Manjoume. "That means they'll be coming for me any day now."

"Do you have to complain about everything?" asked Shoji. "You're complaining about things that haven't even happened yet."

"I know how my life works," said Manjoume. "Something always goes wrong. See for yourself." He gestured around to take in their surroundings.

"Duly noted," said Shoji.

"Could both of you shut up?" Chosaku snapped. "This is bad enough without listening to the two of you blowing hot air."

They trudged on in weary silence. The sun rose higher, and the temperature in the forest likewise increased. Far from keeping them cool in the shade, the trees seemed to hold in the heat like a vast greenhouse, and the moist earth quickly turned the air into a humid soup. Manjoume felt sweat trickling down his neck and between his shoulder blades, and, after a while, just about everywhere else. His only comfort was watching his brothers suffering the same way, as their expensive haircuts devolved into sweaty clumps and their finely tailored suits turned dark and damp. Chosaku finally gave up and took off his jacket, tying the sleeves into an awkward knot around his waist. Shoji copied his example. Manjoume stubbornly kept his jacket on. After all, Duel Academia had been a tropical island; if he could stand it there, he could stand it here. The Ojamas, of course, were perfectly comfortable in their near-total lack of clothing, and flitted around as cheerfully as ever, exclaiming admiringly over the scenery and generally having a good time.

"Hey, you goofs," said Manjoume. "Since you've got so much energy to burn, how about scouting up ahead and telling me if there's anything I ought to know about?"

"What if there's a monster?" Ojama Yellow asked nervously.

"Then get back here on the double and tell me about it so we can get rid of it!"

The Ojamas scattered, nearly colliding with Chosaku and Shoji in their frantic rush to obey Manjoume's orders. He was gratified to watch his brothers yelp and duck as the monsters barreled past. He snickered.

"Warn us before you do that!" said Chosaku.

"I didn't do it," said Manjoume angelically. "They did."

"But you told them to," Chosaku persisted.

Manjoume gave Shoji a see-what-I-have-to-put-up-with look. "And you say I complain?"

Within a few minutes, the Ojamas were back, bubbling over with delight at having actually having accomplished a task successfully. They were, in fact, so excited that it was difficult to work out what they were saying, but after Manjoume shouted at them they simmered down a little, and he was able to get the gist of it. They had found the river, they said, and it was apparently a big one. They hadn't seen any monsters in it - the water was clear and cool and populated mainly with large fish that had tried and failed to jump out of the water for an Ojama lunch. There were also berry bushes up ahead that might be a source of food. The Ojamas were immensely proud of themselves for finding all this out. Manjoume decided that since they were already so pleased with themselves, they didn't need any more encouragement from him.

"There, see?" he said. "I told you we'd reach the river today."

Unfortunately, it took a bit longer for three humans on foot to cover the ground that three Ojamas could sail over easily, so they were all feeling more than a little bedraggled by the time they pushed their way out of the undergrowth and into the open air. It was clear that no one spent much time here - the banks of the river were overgrown with plants, many of them with long clinging spines that hooked themselves to the clothing of anyone who walked past and refused to let go without a fight. Manjoume was smugly pleased to note that the tough denim-like material his jacket was made of repelled spines better than his brother's silk shirts. By the time they reached the edge of the water, their fingers were scratched and bleeding slightly from picking out thorns.

But it was better along the very edge of the river. It appeared they had arrived during a dry season, and that the river usually ran higher than it was running now. The banks were covered in smooth flat stones, ranging from tiny skipping stones to rocks as big as Manjoume's dining room table from back home, the one that could seat a dozen people in comfort. He picked out a good big flat one that was slightly concave in the middle, like an enormous clamshell. He decided it would do for a camp site and seated himself on the raised edge. Warmed by the sun, it made a comfortable bench. In fact, he found himself inclined to curl up and go to sleep. His body still had not adjusted to the shift in time frames.

"Finally, we're here," said Chosaku, dropping onto the stone across from him. "If I have to spend another moment walking through those infernal woods, I'm going to lose it."

"Too late," Manjoume said.

Shoji was picking his way across the stones to look into the water. "We're going to get tired of walking on these rocks, too. At least the leaves was _soft_. Does anyone here know how to clean fish?"

"I do," said Manjoume.

Chosaku gave him a look. Manjoume thought it was an annoyed look. "You light fires and do your own laundry and clean fish. What _don't_ you do?"

"I learned a lot while I was in school," said Manjoume primly. "Maybe you should try it. You could stand to learn a few things."

"Very funny," said Chosaku. "So go on. Catch a fish already."

Manjoume glared. "What do I look like, your errand boy?"

Nevertheless, he opened up the bag and dug out the fish-hooks and twine, and began scouring the nearby shrubbery for something that would be sturdy enough to make a fishing pole. There was a stand of bamboo-like plants, with attractive yellow leaves and clusters of tiny red flowers, and he used Taniya's knife to saw off a stalk and strip all the branches. Once he had tied it all together and put a bit of their dried meat on the end for a lure, it made a pretty reasonable fishing pole. He picked out a comfortably flat rock near the edge of the water and cast his lure out with an expert flick. All that hanging around Juudai had apparently paid off.

For a while, he did nothing but sit there, his back against a sun-warmed stone that rested at an angle to the one he was sitting on, his eyes half-closed as he watched the twig he was using as a floater. Then he felt a shadow fall across his face, and looked up irritably at Shoji.

"You're standing in my light," he said.

"That looks relaxing," said Shoji. "Mind if I give it a try?"

Manjoume shrugged. "There's another hook in the bag. Knock yourself out."

Shoji walked away for a few minutes, and finally returned with another makeshift fishing pole. He flicked it in the air a few times, getting a feel for it.

"It's been a while since I've done this," he remarked. "Not since Dad died."

"Dad fished?" Manjoume asked.

"A long time ago," said Shoji. "I guess you were too little to come with us. He used to enjoy it, though. It was what he did when he wanted a break from work."

"I never knew that," said Manjoume.

"I guess it's not something we talk about much," said Shoji.

"I like knowing stuff like that. I don't really remember much about them."

"Well, what do you want to know?" Shoji asked.

"You know. Stuff. Whatever."

"That's not very specific," said Shoji. He thought about it a minute. "Mom's favorite color was blue, she liked soap operas, and she wore lilac-scented perfume. Dad's favorite food was crab, he loved baseball, and he read spy novels - had whole shelves full of them."

"Keep going."

"Okay, what else... Mom used to sing in the shower. She had an amazing voice. She played piano, too. Too bad none of us got her talent. And she loved chocolate-covered cherries. Dad got her a box of them for every Christmas and birthday and White Day. Never failed. And he used to tell us stories - he could do all the voices and everything. Sometimes he'd get to telling ghost stories, and you'd get scared and run and hide in one of our beds."

"I think I remember that," said Manjoume. He shook his head. "It seems like something out of a movie, not something that really happened to me. You guys are lucky to remember."

"Sometimes I think you're the lucky one. You can't miss what you can't remember, can you?"

"You'd be surprised," said Manjoume.

Shoji leaned back on the rock and closed his eyes. "I think it's hardest on Chosaku. After Mom and Dad died, he felt like he had to look after us. After you, especially, since you were the smallest. He might be a little overprotective sometimes."

"You mean he wants to control my life," said Manjoume.

"He's worried that if he lets you do your own thing, it will go wrong and he'll be to blame."

"If it goes wrong, it'll be my own problem," said Manjoume, "and if it does, I'll fix it myself. I don't _need_ him breathing down my neck all the time."

Shoji gave a mirthless laugh. "Try telling him that. See how far you get."

"I've tried," said Manjoume. He sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't ever get it."

"Oh, it might sink in someday," said Shoji. "Hopefully before we're all old and gray." He paused a moment before adding more quietly, "Seems to me you've done pretty well for yourself."

"Yeah, well," said Manjoume, "nobody wants to screw up if they can help it... Whoa!"

There was a sudden tug on the line, sharp enough to nearly tug the pole out of his hands, and he had to heave with all his strength. Shoji got up to help him, and together the two of them were able to haul a massive fish onto the bank. It had pearly pink scales, flecked with orange. It flopped around on the ground until Manjoume picked up a stone and whacked it over the head a few times.

"That was brutal," said Shoji.

Manjoume tossed the rock aside and glared at him. "You were planning on eating it alive?"

"Never mind," said Shoji. "Do you... need any help with that?"

He was so plainly not relishing the idea of cleaning and gutting a slimy, bloody fish that Manjoume wanted to laugh. Instead, he said, "Go see if you can clear a place for a fire or something."

"Right," said Shoji, clearly relieved, and wandered off.

Manjoume regarded the task in front of him with a sigh, wishing faintly that Juudai were here. He may not have always been the easiest person to stand, but he never seemed to mind doing tasks like this. But there was no one else to do the job, so Manjoume reluctantly went to fetch the knife.

A good while later, he had successfully removed the fish's head and fins, scraped off its scales, scooped out its guts, removed most of the bones, and put a notch in his finger where the knife had slipped away from him. He did, however, finish with something that would make a fine dinner after it had been cooked a while. When he got up to wash his hands, he was also pleased to see that somebody had not only set up a campfire but had gotten it burning. He lugged the slabs of fish over to the campfire, where his brothers were lounging on the rocks and dozing in the sunlight. As Manjoume approached, Chosaku stirred and opened his eyes.

"Turns out, you're not the only one who knows how to light a fire," he said.

"How about that," said Manjoume, unable to keep a trace of sarcasm from his voice. Then he reconsidered. "Thanks."

Chosaku waved a hand - _Don't mention it_ - and went back to dozing.

_Imagine that,_ Manjoume thought, as he began skewering bits of fish on a stick. _That was almost polite. Guess even he gets too tired to make trouble sometimes._

Still, he was feeling almost cheerful as he watched lunch toasting over the fire. Maybe his brothers weren't so bad, after all. Given time, they might even become tolerable.

Not that he was going to hold his breath on that.

* * *

After a few more hours of picking their way over treacherous, wobbly river rocks, they finally sighted the island Taniya had mentioned, and turned with some relief back to the forest. They were even gladder to come upon a road of hard-packed dirt, smooth and easy to walk on, cutting through the trees. They were able to make good time after that, and by a little after midday, they came upon a signpost announcing that they were coming close to the village. Manjoume considered a moment, then called a halt.

"All right, people," he announced, "it's time to empty your pockets!"

Chosaku gave him a suspicious look. "What for?"

"Because," said Manjoume, "we're almost to town, right?"

"Right," said Chosaku.

"And we have to buy things down there, right?" Manjoume persisted.

"Of course. What are you getting at?" asked Chosaku.

Manjoume gave him his best must-you-be-such-an-idiot look.

"If we want to buy stuff, we need money," said Manjoume, "and I hate to break it to you, but your credit cards are no good here, and nobody has heard of Japan, much less knows what a yen is. So..."

"So if we want to buy anything," Shoji finished, "we'll need to either barter or sell something."

"Exactly," said Manjoume, "so here's what we're going to do. We're all going to take everything we've got on us that we don't absolutely need, and we're going to throw it in a pile, and we're going to take it into town and swap it for stuff we _do_ need. Any objections?"

There were none. The brothers obediently divested themselves of any excess baggage. Manjoume got off fairly lightly; he didn't carry a lot of useless things with him anyway. He still had to give up his cell phone and a pocket organizer - necessities for a pro duelist. Chosaku and Shoji between them gave up two cell phones, a pair of digital music players, another organizer, a calculator, an ebook reader, several cufflinks and tie tacks, a signet ring, a couple of watches, and their expensive jackets and ties, which were mere hindrances in this warm climate.

"Aren't you giving up your jacket?" Shoji asked.

Manjoume gave that remark the look of contempt it deserved.

"Who'd give me money for it?" he asked.

"Good point," said Chosaku, giving the old black jacket a look of distaste. "People would probably pay us to take it back out of town."

"Ha-ha. You're a laugh riot," said Manjoume. "Come on, guys. Let's go shopping."

They made their way into town. It hadn't looked like much from a distance - by the standards of a trio of city dwellers, it seemed positively minuscule - but what it lacked in size, it made up in activity. The main street thronged with people of every description. Some of them could have passed for perfectly ordinary human beings. Some were elfin creatures of spectacular grace and beauty that made all three brothers turn to stare as they walked by. Some of them were more bestial than human, and some of them looked as though by rights they shouldn't even be animate. They were all pushing and shoving through the narrow streets, competing for space with the vendors who had set up their stalls along the edges of the roads. The noise was incredible. Not only were all the people in the streets trying to talk to each other, but the salespeople were engaged in shouting matches with each other as they hawked their wares, and every street corner held a musician playing for coins. The air was heavy with smells: sweat, spices, animals, perfume, machine oil, flowers, smoke, and sun-warmed fruits. For a few minutes, all the brothers could do was wander around in a daze, staring at everything.

The first thing they did once they'd pulled their thoughts together was to find a junk dealer who would be willing to give them something for the assortment of oddments they had to offer. After surveying what was available, they settled on a stall run by a man who looked as though he could have been one of Taniya's distant relatives: a massively muscled man with distinctly feline features and dark brown stripes rippling over his tanned skin. He pawed through their offerings and made them an offer. Manjoume opened his mouth to agree to it, but before he could say a word, Shoji jumped in.

"Twelve silver chips? Are you out of your _mind_?" he exclaimed. "What are you trying to do, rob us? You think just because we're out of town, we don't know what something is worth? I'll bet if I shopped around, I could get three times that much."

"For this junk?" the tiger man retorted. "Maybe a real idiot would give you fourteen."

"Right, because anyone with sense would realize it's worth at least thirty."

Manjoume watched in astonishment as his brother bickered with a beast-man twice his size over the price of their belongings. In the end, they settled on twenty-four silver chips, which were counted out solemnly before they disappeared into Shoji's pockets.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Manjoume asked. "You don't even know how much a silver chip is worth."

"No, but I was watching the other people do business while we looked around," Shoji replied, "and it's obvious that the people in this place are used to haggling." Manjoume's face must have still shown some disbelief, because Shoji smiled smugly and added, "Well, I _am_ the financial expert in this family. What good am I if I can't do a little wheeling and dealing?"

"Great," said Manjoume. "You can be our spokesman, then."

"Glad to be of service," said Shoji dryly.

To his credit, he did do his job well. The three of them strolled around the marketplace, looking at everything and considering their options. They bought extra food supplies and another bag to carry them in, and traded in Chosaku and Shoji's shoes for a pair of comfortable hiking boots. The vendor even threw in a pair of sturdy walking sticks shod in metal. They found a man selling clothing and sold him their spare clothes and neckties and got a good deal on a set of hooded traveling cloaks. Manjoume sized up his brothers in their new garments and smirked a little.

"You guys look like refugees from one of those renaissance festivals," he said.

"At this point," said Chosaku, "fashion is not exactly my top priority."

Shoji was looking uneasily over his shoulder.

"I hate to sound paranoid," he said, "but do either of you get the feeling we're being followed?"

Manjoume looked around. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary going on. People were coming and going, chatting with friends and doing their shopping. No one even seemed to be looking at them.

"By what?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Shoji. "Maybe it's just my imagination."

"Well, let's find out," said Manjoume. "Hey, goofballs! Front and center!"

The Ojamas flitted into view and lined up in front of him, snapping what they probably thought were smart military-style salutes. Manjoume rolled his eyes.

"You dweebs seen anyone following us?" he asked.

The three of them looked around, eager curiosity written on their faces.

"Gee, there's lots of people behind you!" said Yellow.

"Which one are you looking for? We'll find him!" said Black eagerly.

Manjoume sighed. "Never mind. Hey, Shoji, do we have any cash left?"

Shoji turned out his pockets and held up a handful of coins.

"A little bit," he said. "Is there anything else we need?"

Manjoume thought it over. They had replenished their supplies, so unless the remainder of their trip took a lot longer than Taniya had said it would, they weren't in any danger of starving. His brothers had suitable traveling clothes now, and everything else they really needed was already in the bag Taniya had given them.

"Can't think of anything," he said. In a burst of generosity, he added, "Tell you what. Let's divide what's left between us, and we can split up and spend it on whatever we decide we want. How's that?"

"You're sure that's safe?" asked Chosaku, looking around at the market. He clearly wasn't all that at ease with the number of monsters hanging around.

"It'll be fine, don't worry," said Manjoume. "Just don't wander off too far and don't talk to anything with fangs. You'll be fine. Let's meet up again over by that food cart. We can have a hot meal before we go."

Everyone agreed to this plan and wandered off in their own directions. Manjoume watched his brothers disappear into the crowd. Then he beckoned his Ojamas closer.

"Green, Black," he said, "you guys go with them, okay? Keep an eye on them and come running if they get into any trouble."

The two Ojamas nodded eagerly and streaked off after Shoji and Chosaku. Manjoume stood a moment, feeling oddly alone. Then he shook off the sensation and plunged into the crowd.

He was successful enough in telling himself that he wasn't worried that he actually managed to enjoy his shopping trip. He may not have been the businessman that Shoji was, but he had some of the family charisma to call upon, and he managed to make his money stretch a fair way. He bought a brooch set with a strange blue stone with golden flashes flickering below its surface that he thought he might try giving to Asuka if he could get up the nerve, and a wooden pipe carved in the shape of a dragon that he thought the musically-inclined Fubuki might enjoy (and probably annoy everyone in earshot with). He tucked his treasures out of sight and headed for the food cart to spend the last of his money on food.

He was somewhat relieved to see that he was the last one there. As soon as he arrived, his Ojamas rocketed back to his side, beaming with pleasure at a job well done.

"We did a good job!" Green boasted. "Nobody bothered them at all!"

"Yeah, yeah. I guess even you guys can't do everything wrong all the time."

The Ojamas took this as the compliment this was and danced and squealed with joy. Chosaku shook his head.

"How long have you been dealing with this?" he asked.

"Since about the middle of my first year in school," Manjoume replied.

"Suddenly your erratic behavior makes a lot more sense," said Chosaku. "Anyone would go a little crazy."

Manjoume was forced to agree that he might be right.

"So what did you guys buy?" he asked.

Chosaku shrugged. "You know. Stuff."

"Stuff?" Manjoume repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"I saw some cards I wanted," Chosaku elaborated.

"I found a pen and ink set I liked," said Shoji. "It'll look good on my desk. What about you?"

"Just some souvenirs for some friends back home," said Manjoume.

"Friends like who?" asked Chosaku. "Not that kid with the red jacket who won that duel?"

"Heck, no," said Manjoume. "He can get his own presents."

"So who else is there?" Shoji asked.

"If you _must_ know," said Manjoume, "it's for Fubuki and Asuka. Neither of whom you know."

"Asuka? Isn't that usually a girls' name?" asked Shoji. "Jun, you never told us you had a girlfriend!"

Manjoume could feel himself blushing vividly. He started to say that Asuka _wasn't_ his girlfriend, but pride made him change his mind.

"My personal life is none of your business," he said.

"Is she pretty?" Shoji persisted.

"Well... yeah, she is," said Manjoume. "But you can't have her. I saw her first."

He heard a sharp outrush of air, as of someone trying to stifle laughter, and he glared sharply at Chosaku. Chosaku swiftly composed his expression and gazed innocently off at the sky.

"You guys are impossible," said Manjoume. "I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all about her, but only if you're buying my dinner."

They bought dinner. Manjoume and the rest of his crew walked out of town eating pastries filled with meat, vegetables, and spiced gravy, and he held up his end of the deal by telling his brothers stories about Asuka and Fubuki and the other people at Duel Academia, with the Ojamas putting in not-entirely-helpful comments here and there. In retrospect, it was amazing that all of it had happened in such a short amount of time. Manjoume wasn't sure his brothers believed any of it, but it did pass the time while they walked.

After a while, the trees thinned out, and the walking became more uphill. Manjoume could see a ridge of rocks standing hazily off in the distance. He wondered which one was Tempest Top.

"Looks like we might make it, after all," he said.

"Good thing, too," said Chosaku. "If I have to walk much further, my legs are going to fall off."

"Still plenty of daylight left," said Manjoume although his legs weren't very happy with him either. He thought he kept himself reasonably fit, but there was a difference between that and walking all day for days in a row. "We'd better keep going while we can."

Chosaku groaned. Shoji, however, ignored both of them. He was still looking around as though trying to locate a distant sound.

"I just can't shake the feeling that we're being followed," he said.

Manjoume gave him a look. "Who would want to follow us?"

"I have no idea," said Shoji.

"We really need to get home," said Chosaku. "The pressure is getting to him."

"Well, we'll be home tomorrow if everything goes right," said Manjoume. Not that everything was _likely_ to go right, but their luck had been surprisingly good so far, and he was hoping to ride the wave of good fortune a little longer.

They went on climbing, while the sun sunk lower and lower. By the time it was fully dark, they had reached the top of a tall grassy hill with a fine view of the surrounding countryside. The rocks were clearer than ever from that vantage point, and if Manjoume turned and looked back, he could see the lights of the village twinkling.

"This is a good place to camp," he decided. "Nothing's going to sneak up on us from up here."

"We aren't going to be able to find firewood," Chosaku groused.

None of them felt like going down the hill to look for wood, so they ate a cold dinner and stretched out on the ground. Manjoume had to admit that while going without a hot meal was a pain, it was nice to rest his aching muscles in the cool, soft grass. The night sky was spectacular, too. Without any city lights or pollution to obscure the stars, there seemed to be more light than darkness.

While Manjoume was contemplating this, he noticed something strange. There seemed to be a light dancing up in the sky, a rippling blue-silver flash. It reminded him a little of the aurora borealis, and a little of streaks of lightning. He had never seen anything like it before.

"What the heck is that?" he said.

"What's what?" asked Chosaku. His voice sounded thick, as though he'd been mostly asleep.

"That sparkly stuff up there," said Manjoume. "Wake up and see for yourself."

Shoji stirred and sat up. He pointed at the sky.

"What on earth is that?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" said Ojama Yellow. "We know this one! It's called clear lightning!"

"Okay," said Manjoume. "What's clear lightning?"

"You get it in the sky at night sometimes," said Green knowledgeably. "When you see it, you know the weather is going to be clear for a while. That's why it's called clear lightning."

"Sounds good," said Manjoume, settling back down again.

It was nice to know that they weren't in any danger of being rained on any time soon. He folded his arms behind his head for a pillow and watched the clear lightning dance across the sky. It was actually sort of pretty, he thought. It looked almost close enough to touch. Dreamily, he reached out a hand towards the sky, and a strip of glowy stuff swirled town to twine around his arm, shimmering for a moment before disappearing.

"Whoa," he said.

Shoji turned around to get a better look. "What does it feel like?"

"It kind of tickles," said Manjoume. It didn't feel like electricity, whatever it was. It felt more like a puff of wind, or the brush of a feather against his skin, and was faintly warm.

"Let me try," said Shoji. He reached up with both hands, and the lightning obligingly spilled down into them. He twitched. "This is strange..."

"Are you sure that's safe?" asked Chosaku, watching them both warily.

"It's fine!" the Ojamas assured him. "We do it all the time!"

"I'm not reassured," said Chosaku, and Manjoume had to stifle a laugh.

"Come on, give it a try," he said. "You don't want to be left out, do you?"

Chosaku gave him a glare, as he'd expected, but he reluctantly reached up towards the sky. The lightning settled in his hand. Shoji and Manjoume copied him, and the sparks danced and flickered between the three of them, briefly forming triangular patterns over their campsite before it faded.

"Amazing," said Shoji. "You'd never see anything like this back home."

"We're seeing a lot of things we wouldn't see back home," said Chosaku. "Clear lightning, tiger people, monsters..."

"We wouldn't be seeing much of each other, either," Manjoume muttered.

He expected Chosaku to make some sort of sarcastic remark. Instead, he simply seemed to be considering it - weighing the pros and cons as though it were a question in a political debate.

"You're right. We wouldn't," he said. After another momentary pause, he said, "Maybe when this is over..."

Manjoume waited, wondering what he was going to say. When nothing more appeared to be forthcoming, he turned to look. It seemed that Chosaku had dozed off.

_Well, what was I expecting?_ Manjoume wondered. He wasn't really sure. He couldn't really imagine the three of them taking time off to go to the Bahamas, or something like that. Then again, he couldn't have imagined this happening, either.

He was still mulling this over when he too, drifted off.

The last thing he was aware of, before he fell asleep entirely, was a faint prickly sense that something was watching him.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Destination

**Destination**

**By: SilvorMoon**

The morning started well enough. They awoke refreshed with the sun shining on their faces and ate a breakfast of bread and dried fruit. The hike back down the hill was easy and pleasant. Manjoume was able to relax and enjoy the fresh breezes and the sound of the birds all around him.

It wasn't long before he stopped enjoying himself. After that hill, the ground began sloping steadily upwards. The sun rose higher in the sky, beating down on him and reflecting off the stones until he felt like he was being slowly roasted. The trees they had been walking under had given way to a number of prickly bushes with grayish leaves that offered no shade and scratched at him as he walked by. It wasn't long before his legs ached from the constant upward climb.

His brothers seemed to be getting tired of it all, too. At about noon, Chosaku finally gave up and collapsed onto a stray boulder.

"I give up!" he said. "I'm not going another step. I don't _care_ if we don't make it home today, I am not walking!"

Shoji didn't even bother to object. He simply dropped down in a space where a large rock was providing some shade and closed his eyes. Manjoume sighed.

"I guess we can stop for lunch," he said. "Don't give up on me, guys. You can sleep all you want when you get home."

"Home," Shoji repeated longingly. "When I get back, I am going to have a long soak in the hot tub, and I'm going to have a good stiff drink and some real food and a long sleep in my own bed."

"You and me both," said Chosaku.

"You aren't allowed to sleep in my bed."

Manjoume gave a snort of laughter. "Who would _want_ to sleep in your bed?"

"Me," said Shoji, and pointedly closed his eyes.

"Well, I'm going to eat something now," said Chosaku. He started to go through the bag of spare supplies, and then paused. One of the thorny gray bushes was growing nearby. Fat purple berries the size of grapes were growing on it. He looked up at the Ojamas. "Hey, you things! Ojamas, whatever you are! Are these berries poisonous?"

"Oh, no!" said Black. "They aren't poisonous."

"Great," said Chosaku. He pulled off a handful of berries and stuffed them in his mouth.

"They just taste awful," said Green.

"Blech!" Chosaku exclaimed. He spat out the berries, dribbling purple juice down his chin and into his beard. He spat several times, trying to rid himself of the taste, while Manjoume and Shoji enjoyed a laugh at his expense. He glared at them. "Stop that! Argh, that was disgusting! This is not funny!"

"Yes, it is!" said Manjoume. "Your face is all purple now!"

"What? Ugh!" said Chosaku. He rubbed at the stains around his mouth, but it didn't do much but smear them a little.

"It's not coming off," said Shoji helpfully.

"They won't," said Yellow. "Those are inkberries. You don't eat them, you make ink out of them. It won't wash out for a long time."

"Well, why didn't you _say_ that?" Chosaku demanded.

"You never asked," said Yellow.

"Argh!" said Chosaku. "That is _it_! I am sick of this place! What did I do to deserve to be stuck here in this insane wilderness with a bunch of monsters gibbering at me? This is ridiculous! I shouldn't have to put up with this! This is not fair!"

Manjoume was mildly alarmed. He wasn't used to his big brother losing his self control that way.

"Take it easy," he said. "Your brain's overheating. Drink some water and calm down."

He handed Chosaku a water bottle. Chosaku took it, looking sullen, and set about trying to rinse the taste of the inkberries out of his mouth. Manjoume went to sit next to Shoji. He was surprised at how naturally it came to him. Then again, Shoji had been making some effort to talk to him. He figured he might as well meet him halfway.

"He wouldn't have lasted a week at Duel Academia," he remarked as he sat down.

"I don't blame him for being annoyed," said Shoji.

"Me either," Manjoume admitted. "That doesn't mean he has to throw a tantrum."

"Well, he never got to act like a little kid at home," said Shoji philosophically.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Manjoume. And after he thought about it for a moment, he decided it might even be true. Chosaku was the oldest, and when their parents had died, he had been forced to take over running the family whether he liked it or not. He hadn't been much more than a teenager himself at the time. Being suddenly given responsibility over two younger brothers probably hadn't been easy for him. Manjoume wondered what Chosaku might have been if he hadn't been forced to step into his father's place so suddenly.

_Maybe that's his problem. I got to choose what I'm doing with my life and how I do it, and he never did. Maybe he's jealous..._

"What do you think we should do?" he asked Shoji.

Shoji thought it over for a while. His gaze fell on the purple berries growing on the shrubs.

"Let's throw things at him," he said.

Manjoume shrugged. "Sounds good."

A few seconds later, Chosaku had his head tipped back, eyes closed as he drained the last few drops of water from his canteen. That was why he didn't notice when Manjoume threw a berry at him. It made a satisfactory _splat_, leaving a purple blotch on his cloak. His eyes snapped open.

"What... What?" he blurted. Several more berries splattered against him. "Stop that!"

"Make us!" Manjoume shouted.

"Stop ganging up on me!" Chosaku shouted. His brothers ignored him. He snarled. "All right, that does it! This means war!"

He ripped a handful of berries off the nearest bush and flung them back at Manjoume and Shoji. Manjoume yelped as berries pelted him. The Ojamas gave a gleeful whoop and joined in the fun, throwing berries at the brothers as well as each other. For a few moments, chaos reigned as all of them pelted each other with fruit.

Suddenly a voice said, "Hey, that looks like fun! Can we play too?"

Everyone froze. Manjoume looked around for the source of the voice, and saw two small blobby creatures peering over the edge of a rock. One had bright blue skin and narrow eyes, while the other was red and had a scowling face. Manjoume stared at them. He had never seen them before, and yet there was something very familiar about them...

The Ojamas gave a squeal of delight and rushed at the newcomers.

"Cousin Blue! Cousin Red!" they exclaimed. All five hugged each other and danced around joyously. Manjoume stared.

"There are _more_ of you clowns?" he exclaimed.

Yellow looked delightedly up at him.

"These are our cousins!" he said. "We haven't seen them in forever!"

"Great. Just _wonderful_," said Manjoume.

"We knew you'd be happy!" Green said.

"We've been following you guys," said Red.

"For miles and miles," Blue agreed. "We wanted to, like, introduce ourselves, but we're, you know, shy."

"Really shy!" Red agreed. "So can we play now or what?"

Manjoume regarded them suspiciously. "You guys aren't planning on joining my deck, are you? Because it's getting pretty crowded in there."

"Aw, heck no!" said Red. "We're here for these guys!"

He pointed at Chosaku and Shoji. Blue nodded vigorously.

"You're... what?" asked Chosaku.

Blue flitted over to land on Shoji's shoulder.

"This is going to be, like, so totally cool!" he enthused.

"That's right!" said Red. He nested down in Chosaku's hair. "From now on, we're partners! Whaddaya think of that, huh?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold it," said Shoji. "Do you mean to say that this..." He pointed at Blue. "...is my monster?"

"You got it, dude," said Blue.

Manjoume stared blankly a moment. Then the reality of the situation set in on him, and he began to laugh. The more he laughed, the more he couldn't seem to stop laughing. He slumped over sideways, howling with mirth, beating his fists on the ground.

"Oh, this is great!" he gasped. "This is too perfect!"

"Boy," said Yellow, "Big Brother sure is happy to see our family!"

Chosaku was attempting to dislodge the Ojama from his head. It seemed to be firmly settled in.

"How do I make it go away?" he said helplessly.

"You _don't_," said Manjoume, swiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Once its yours, its yours _forever_, and it'll never, ever go away!"

"Isn't it great?" said Black.

"I don't believe this," said Chosaku.

"Now you know how I feel," said Manjoume.

Shoji seemed to be taking the development in stride. He laughed a little.

"You should keep him," he said. "You're obviously meant for each other. He looks just like you!"

Manjoume looked at the scowling Chosaku, and then at the pugnacious face of Ojama Red, and burst into fresh streams of laughter.

"You're right! They look just alike!" he agreed.

"Very funny," Chosaku muttered.

"I don't see the resemblance," said Red. "I'm _much_ better looking."

That set Manjoume off again.

"Oh, please stop!" he said. "I can't take much more!"

Chosaku glowered. "Fine, I get it. Karma is hilarious."

"You bet it is!" Manjoume agreed.

"Whatever," said Chosaku. "I give up. Let's eat and get going."

"There's food?" said Blue. "Radical!"

"Good thing we stopped to buy extra provisions," said Shoji. "I wonder what else we're going to run into on this trip."

Much to everyone's relief, they didn't run into anything else for quite a long time. The path smoothed out into a gentler slope that wasn't quite as hard on their legs, and they began to make better time. It wound around and through the hills, and occasionally Manjoume thought he caught a glimpse of one that was teller than the rest, with a squat boxy shape at its peak that he guessed might be Misawa's lab. The thought filled him with hope. Soon they would reach it, and they would be able to go back home where things were normal. Fleetingly, he wondered what was going to happen once he got there. There would probably be a media stir about him disappearing like that in the middle of a high-profile event. If he spun it right, he could get good publicity out of it.

Then he would go back to his job, and his brothers would go back to theirs. They would all be traveling around in different parts of the world. He probably wouldn't see them again face-to- face for months. It dawned on him to wonder if he was going to miss them. He was starting to get used to having them underfoot all the time. Even before he'd made his split with them, he hadn't spent a whole lot of time with them, what with their jobs and his schoolwork. He felt like he was just starting to get to know them.

_It'll probably be different back home, anyway,_ he thought, a bit sourly. You had to expect that it would make a difference when you were relying on each other to stay alive and in one piece. Once they were home, they wouldn't need him anymore.

"Are we there yet?" Ojama Red shouted.

Manjoume corrected himself. They might need some advice on how to cope with Ojamas.

The trail rounded a corner, and around the bend, Manjoume found that the path split in two. One direction sloped down into a valley; the other continued curving around the mountain and towards a bridge he could see in the distance. Beyond the bridge, he could see the peak of the tallest hill that he was certain now was Tempest Top.

"Hey, look at that!" he said. "We're almost there!"

"Bodacious," said Blue. "Uh... where are we going?"

"Home," said Chosaku. "And not a minute too soon!"

"We've still got some hiking to do," said Shoji, "but at least we can see where we're going now."

"Do you live up on that mountain?" Red asked.

"No," said Chosaku. "Don't even bother asking. It's too complicated to explain."

With their spirits raised, they set out towards their goal with renewed speed. Manjoume had some concerns about the bridge, but once they reached it, he could see that it was in good condition, built solidly of thick logs and reinforced with metal. In fact, it appeared to have been repaired and strengthened recently. He wondered who had done it. Carpentry had never struck him as one of Misawa's interests. Who else came up here?

They crossed the bridge and began the last leg of their journey. Tempest Top looked much closer now. The sun was beginning to set, making parts of the path shadowed and hard to see, and Manjoume was concentrating on where he put his feet more than where he was going.

Chosaku was obviously paying attention, though.

"Your friend didn't mention anything about someone meeting us up there, did he?" he asked.

"Huh?" said Manjoume. "No. Why?"

"Well, because there's light in the windows. Somebody's home."

"Maybe they're friendly?" Yellow suggested. He didn't sound particularly hopeful.

"Well, whoever they are, I am _not_ letting them stop me from going home," Manjoume declared. "If they won't let us go through then we'll just have to kick them out."

"Are we going to have to fight?" asked Green.

"Only one way to find out," said Manjoume.

Within another few minutes, they were close enough to the station to see its front doors. They could also see clearly that all the windows inside were lit, and shadowy shapes were moving around inside. The brothers stopped walking.

"What do we do now?" asked Shoji.

"You guys stay here," said Manjoume. "I'll go up there and check things out."

"No," said Chosaku. "I'll do it."

Manjoume was surprised. "You will?"

"I'm the head of this family," said Chosaku. "If anyone is taking the risk, it's me. You stay here and be ready to bail me out if something goes wrong."

And with head held high, he went marching towards the door. Manjoume watched him, impressed in spite of himself.

"Brave guy," he said. "Stupid, but brave."

"Do you think he realizes his face is still purple?" Shoji asked.

Chosaku reached the door and rapped sharply on it.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Open up!"

The shadows inside stopped moving around. The door opened a crack, and a small horned head peeked out.

"What do you want?" the creature asked in a raspy voice.

"My brothers and I need to use the equipment in this building," said Chosaku.

"Well, too bad," said the fiend. "This building belongs to us now, and you can't use it, so nyah!"

He slammed the door in Chosaku's face. Chosaku stared a moment. He pounded his fist on the door, but his only response was a rumble of laughter from inside the building. He slunk back to the bushes, defeated.

"Well, that didn't go well," said Shoji. "What's plan B?"

"I'm thinking," said Manjoume, "that blasting the door off its hinges might just be a start."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Green.

"Yeah, maybe they'll change their minds if we ask real nice?" Yellow suggested.

"Not likely," said Manjoume.

"I'm with him," said Chosaku. "Nobody slams a door in my face and gets away with it."

"Now you're talkin'!" said Red. "Count me in!"

Manjoume cast a look at Shoji. "What about you? Any objections?"

Shoji shook his head. "If it's the only way home, then I guess we have to do what we have to do. I'm in."

"Right," said Manjoume. "We take them as a team."

"As a _group_," Chosaku corrected. "That's what we are. The Manjoume Group."

Manjoume felt a little shock at the realization that he had been included, unhesitatingly and definitively.

"Well, whatever we're calling ourselves," he said, "let's get out there and kick some ass."

His brothers nodded, their eyes alight with eagerness to do battle. They were watching him, waiting to hear what he was going to say next. He smiled. This was going to make for a pleasant change of pace.

"Okay, guys," he said. "Here's how we're going to do this..."

A short while later, Manjoume sauntered up to the front door of the building. It was a solid-looking sort of door, made of thick planks held together with lots of metal and rivets. He hoped Misawa wouldn't mind losing it too much.

With the flourish of a card, he summoned up a huge armored dragon. It belched a fireball at the front door and reduced it to flaming kindling, revealing a room full of shocked-looking monsters of various sizes and descriptions.

"Hey," he shouted. "Turn around when I'm talking to you! Oh, wait, those are your _faces_. I thought those were your rear ends."

"Who do you think you are, talking to us like that?" one of the monsters demanded.

"Who do you think _you_ are?" Manjoume retorted. "Personally, I think your mother was a dead slug and your father was a garbage disposal."

"Why, you...!"

Manjoume wasn't quite sure what came after that, other than that it sounded insulting. He responded with a rude gesture of his own. That was all the fiends could handle. They rushed forward in a mass, waving their weapons and howling for Manjoume's blood.

But they didn't get very far. As soon as they started forwards, the Ojamas dropped down from the lintel above the door - Yellow, Green, and Black on one side and Red and Blue on the other. They were holding a rope between them, and as soon as they hit the ground, they pulled it taut. The first unsuspecting wave of monsters tumbled over it, and the ones behind tripped over their comrades, until there was a remarkable pile-up in the doorway. Manjoume strolled casually down the path, whistling.

"Thanks, fellas!" he called, waving over his shoulder to the Ojamas.

"Any time, Big Brother!" his monsters called back.

He had made it halfway down the path before the fiends managed to unentangle themselves from each other and retrieve the members of their party who had been squashed underneath them. Then they went charging after Manjoume again, howling for his blood.

They ran straight into a pair of jeweled dragons, courtesy of Chosaku and Shoji. Their howls of rage turned to wails of fear and pain. Manjoume dodged around a dragon's tail and made a dash for the now empty station. He met his brothers on the way up, and all three of them pelted as fast as they could go up the path. Manjoume cast a glance over his shoulder to see how the fight was going, and his foot caught in a rut. He stumbled, tried to wrench himself back upright, overbalanced and fell on his face. His breath was knocked from his lungs, and for a moment he couldn't think how to move or breathe.

"Come on, get up!" Chosaku shouted at him. He doubled back, seized Manjoume, and hauled him to his feet, half-carrying him towards the station. By the time Manjoume had figured out how to get air back inside where it belonged and which way to unfold his legs, he was safe inside the building.

"Quick, find something to barricade the door with!" said Shoji.

Chosaku glared. "There isn't anything!"

"Then make something!" said Shoji.

"Never mind, I'll do it!" said Manjoume.

He took out his deck and selected a barrier spell. A glowing wall of energy appeared a few yards beyond the building. When Manjoume stepped outside to give it a better look, he was pleased to see that it extended all the way around the station. Just to be on the safe side, he took out a few trap cards and set those as well.

"That should keep us safe for a while," he said. "Long enough to get in touch with Misawa, anyway. I hope."

"Great," said Shoji. "Let's get to it, then."

"Wait," said Chosaku. "There's something I want to do first."

He strode briskly outside, and Manjoume, curious, followed after him. There were a few more of the spiky gray bushes outside, growing against the walls of the building. Chosaku plucked a handful of inkberries and splatted them against the wall. He rubbed a purple streak across the stones, then another long downstroke perpendicular to the first, and then an angled one connected to that. Then he seized some more berries to make a circle around the figure he'd drawn. Manjoume smiled a little. It was the family logo, stained into the brick of the building.

"There," said Chosaku, sounding satisfied. "Now everyone can see that this is _our_ building, and we're not giving it up without a fight!"

"Not unless Misawa can get us out of here before those goons get back," said Manjoume. "Nice artwork, though."

They went back inside and found Shoji fiddling with the machines. Of the three of them, he'd always been the best with computers. Now he had the instructions for contacting Misawa spread out in front of him and was busily pushing buttons. A screen in front of him was alight, hissing with static.

"I've almost got it," he said.

He tapped a few more keys and flipped a switch, and the computer emitted an encouraging bleep, and the screen turned blue. A tone sounded several times.

"What's it doing?" Chosaku asked.

"It sounds like a phone ringing," said Manjoume.

Sure enough, a moment later, there was a click, and then Misawa's voice emitted from a speaker.

"Manjoume, is that you?" he asked.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Manjoume countered.

Misawa gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was beginning to worry about you. Is everything all right?"

"Other than the fact that a bunch of monsters made a hideaway in your outpost?" Manjoume replied. "Everything's just dandy."

"Oh dear," said Misawa, sounding mildly perturbed. "I'll have to ask Taniya to send up a scouting party."

"No time for that now," said Shoji. "Just tell us what to do before those monsters come back!"

"Right," said Misawa. "Well, I can tell you what to do, but the fact is, it takes a while to power up the machine. You're going to have to hold the fort until then no matter what."

"We can handle it," Manjoume promised. "Shoji, deal with the computer. Chosaku, you help me guard the door."

Chosaku nodded, looking determined.

"I can handle that," said Shoji. "Just tell me what to do."

"Very well," said Misawa, "the first thing you're going to need to do is open that panel on the console to your right..."

Satisfied that the technical angle of things was under control, Manjoume walked up to the door, with his oldest brother following him. They took their places on either side of the door, standing like sentinels and watching the road.

The attack came a few minutes later. In an instant, the night went from silent to echoing with the howls of enraged monsters. They rushed up the road in a mass, waving clubs and knives and assorted farm implements.

"Should we...?" Chosaku asked.

Manjoume shook his head. "Not yet."

He stood calmly and watched the monsters come roaring up the road - and crash straight into the barrier. It exploded, sending creatures flying in all directions.

"Trap card," Manjoume explained.

"Does it work more than once?" Chosaku asked.

"No," said Manjoume, "but they don't know that, do they?"

Apparently they didn't. The monsters picked themselves up and retreated a short distance, eyeing the building with distrust. Manjoume hoped they were considering giving up and going home, but apparently they weren't that easy to dissuade. A few of the bolder ones began slinking towards the building, looking braced for impact.

"Okay, now!" he shouted.

Immediately a dragon and a giant spider burst out of nowhere - or rather, straight from Manjoume and Chosaku's decks. The fiends exclaimed in surprise at this fresh attack, but they weren't about to give up. They flung themselves at these attackers and battered at them, but the brothers' monsters proves too strong, and the fiends were blasted senseless. Several more times, the attackers charged the building, and each time, Manjoume and Chosaku summoned a fresh round of monsters to deal with them.

"Take that, suckers!" Manjoume shouted, as his Armed Dragon LV7 blasted through a cluster of imps. "There's more where that came from!"

"But how much more?" said Chosaku. "I can't keep this up much longer."

Manjoume cast a glance at him, a cutting remark on his tongue, but he swallowed it when he got a good look at his brother. Chosaku didn't look like he was in good shape; his face was paler than usual, and there was a sheen of sweat across his forehead and beading on his upper lip. His breath was coming as though he'd been running for hours.

_Well, he's not really what you'd call an experienced duelist,_ Manjoume told himself. All this monster summoning must really be taking it out of him.

"Take a breather," Manjoume told him. "I can handle things myself for a while."

"Are you sure?" Chosaku asked.

"Sure I'm sure," Manjoume said. "Go help Shoji, see if you can hurry things along."

It was a sign of how tired he clearly was that he went without an argument or even a word. Manjoume watched him go, surprised at his own concern.

_Guess we all can't be pro duelists,_ he thought.

He turned his attention back to the road. The fiends seemed to be getting tired, too. Several of them, injured from their repeated attempts at fighting, had given up, and had either slunk off dejectedly or were huddled in the bushes nursing their wounds. Others, perhaps more sensible, appeared to be applying first-aid to their brethren. But there were still a stubborn few - the biggest and ugliest of the lot - who hadn't given up yet.

"Come _on_," he groaned. "Haven't you clods figured out this isn't going to work?"

The next attack came, and Manjoume summoned a fresh monster. He was beginning to run short. He wished Taniya or Misawa had told him more about the mechanics of this universe; there seemed to be a single-use clause on monsters; his attempts to summon any of them more than once left him staring stupidly at an inert card. Maybe, he thought, they were getting tired, too.

It wasn't long before he realized that he was getting tired, too. He might have had more stamina for this sort of thing than his brothers, but even his strength wasn't limitless. With each summon, he could feel another bit of his energy being sapped away. With a shock, he realized that he recognized the feeling. It was just like when he had fought the duel zombies in the sand world.

_Not good,_ he thought.

"Hey, guys, can you hurry it up in there?" he shouted. "I can't keep this up much longer!"

"We're almost there!" Shoji called back. "Those monsters have knocked everything out of calibration; we're trying to straighten it all out."

"Well, straighten faster! Otherwise we're going to have bigger problems than calibration!"

Almost as soon as he'd spoken, though, the monsters gave up. He watched in surprise as the last of them turned tail and fled down the path, with their companions scrambling and limping behind them. They darted around a corner and disappeared from sight. Manjoume didn't trust them, though. He stood in the doorway, panting for breath, listening for any signs of trouble.

"What's going on out there?" Chosaku called.

"Nothing," Manjoume called back.

"Did they give up?" Shoji asked.

"I don't know," said Manjoume. "I sure hope so."

"Well, it won't be much longer," said Shoji. "Hopefully by the time they get back, we'll be gone."

Manjoume nodded. He risked stepping away from the door long enough to go to their packs and get a drink of water. He poured a splash of it onto his handkerchief and mopped his face with it. Then he peered into the bottom of the flask. It was nearly empty.

"Here, guys," he said, passing it to the Ojamas. "You can take the last of it."

"Thanks, Big Brother!" Yellow chirped.

The five Ojamas began squabbling with each other, fighting over who got the last few drops. Manjoume turned away, too tired to even be amused by their quarreling.

"Could you keep the noise down?" Shoji called. "I'm working, here."

"Don't tell me that - tell them that," said Manjoume, waving at the Ojamas.

"Not them," said Shoji. "That thumping noise. It's annoying."

"That... what?"

Manjoume paused and listened. Now that he was thinking about it, he realized that he'd been hearing it for a while, but he'd been so wrapped up in attending to his own discomfort that the sound had never made it past his ears.

It sounded like it was coming closer.

"Oh, hell," he groaned, and ran for the door.

The reason the monsters had left was not that they had given up. They had gone to get a friend. Stomping along the road was a Cyclopean creature nearly twenty feet tall, with a single red eye and a great underslung jaw full of crooked, pointy teeth. It had purple skin, scarred with many battles and caked with grime, with only a grubby loincloth wrapped around his waist for clothing. It was dragging a club carved roughly from a tree trunk. The club was longer than Manjoume was tall, and looked a lot heavier. He swallowed hard.

"Do either of you guys have any monsters left?" he asked.

"Nothing that can take on _that_," said Chosaku. "What about you?"

"I don't know. I... I'm pretty tapped out," Manjoume admitted. He looked down at his deck, feeling his palms sweating. He had never even _seen_ a monster like that before. He had no idea of its level or power. If he summoned something and it turned out to not be strong enough, he wouldn't get a second chance. He wasn't sure he had the energy left to summon _anything_. The mere thought of drawing another card gave him a queasy feeling.

"So we're out of monsters," said Shoji faintly. "That's it, then. The machine's not ready yet, and we can't fight that thing..."

"We're not quite out of monsters," Chosaku said. He looked pointedly at the Ojamas, who were still tussling with each other, and Manjoume followed his gaze. The Ojamas seemed to realize that everyone was staring at them.

"Is it time to go home?" asked Green.

Manjoume glared at Chosaku. "You've got to be out of your mind! You want us to send _them_ to fight that thing?"

"No, just one," said Chosaku. "With this."

He reached into his pocket and took out a card, which he handed to Manjoume.

"What's this?" Manjoume asked.

"The card I got, back at the market," said Chosaku. "It's for you. I meant to give it to you later, but I think we need it more now."

Manjoume scanned the text.

"Amulet of Ambition," he murmured.

Equipped to a normal monster, it would give a weaker monster an extra five hundred attack points for each level of difference between it and the monster it was attacking. His three Ojamas were level-one normal monsters. If that creature out there was as powerful as he guessed it was, the amulet could boost one of them by three thousand points or more. It was worth the risk.

"Yellow, come here a minute!" he barked.

"Yes, Big Brother?" the Ojama chirped, flitting into place in front of him.

"I need you to go out there and fight a monster for me," he said.

Ojama Yellow cringed. "Well, I, um, maybe it would be better if you sent someone else? I mean, I wouldn't want to steal someone's spotlight..."

Manjoume smiled. "Trust me."

A moment later, the ogre trudged up to the door and stood staring stupidly down at it.

"Where tiny men who hurt my friends?" he boomed.

"They're not here!" Ojama Yellow squeaked. He flew up so that he was hovering in front of the ogre's nose. "And even if they were, you can't see them!"

The ogre squinted. "Who you?"

"I'm the receptionist," said Yellow. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Whassa 'pointment?"

Yellow raised his chin primly. "I can't let you in without an appointment. If I let you in, I'd have to let everyone in."

"You not let in?" the ogre rumbled. "Then me eat you!"

He reached out a huge hand to grab the Ojama, but it darted quickly out of reach.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" he exclaimed.

The amulet around his neck began to glow. A dazzling gold-green light surrounded him, and the ogre flinched away. Ojama Yellow drifted towards the sky like a rising sun.

"Whazzat? Whazzat?" it exclaimed.

"Incoming!"

Ojama Yellow dropped out of the sky like a tiny yellow meteorite and crashed onto the ogre's bald head with a resounding _THUD!_ The ogre blinked stupidly a few times, swaying slightly on its feet, before toppling over. It hit the ground with a crash that made the ground shake.

Manjoume ran out of the building and caught his Ojama as it floated down out of the sky.

"Oooh," it said. "Did somebody get the number of that truck?"

Manjoume tried to stifle a smile. "Well, you got the job done, anyway. Guess there's a reason I keep you around after all."

He braced himself for a mushy response, but he was saved by a victorious whoop from Shoji.

"Hey, guess what?" he shouted. "It's working!"

"It's about time!" said Manjoume.

He dodged around the unconscious ogre and ran back inside. The control room was now filled with a gentle thrumming, which seemed to be emanating from a pair of metal rods standing side-by-side against one wall. If he looked closely, he thought he could see the air between them rippling, like water with a breeze blowing across it.

"So that's it?" said Manjoume.

"That's it." Misawa's voice emerged from the computer console. "Just walk through that gate and you'll be home. Don't worry; it will shut itself down again automatically once you're gone."

"Seems kind of anticlimactic," said Shoji. "All that trouble for something so easy."

"I'm fine with easy. I just want to be _home_," said Chosaku.

"Yeah," said Manjoume quietly. "Me too."

"Just one thing," Misawa interjected. "I don't usually send multiple people through that portal. You might want to consider holding hands, just to be safe."

Shoji gave Manjoume a wry smile.

"What do you think?" he asked. "Can you bear to hold hands with us?"

"Geez, do you really think I care?" Manjoume snapped. He looked uneasily at the wall. "Besides, you guys... you're really not that bad."

Shoji ruffled his hair. Chosaku laughed and shook his head.

"Listen to you," he said. "All right, then. Let's get out of this place."

Manjoume nodded. He took his brothers' hands, took a breath, closed his eyes, and walked into the portal.

The hum began to grow louder...

* * *

When Manjoume woke up, he was relieved to find that he was not lying on the ground. He wasn't even lying on a floor. Some kind person had propped him up in what appeared to be a faux-leather chair of the kind he might have expected to find in a waiting room. In fact, further investigation revealed that the room he was in did, in fact, resemble some sort of waiting room. It was all done up in pale colors, soft lights, and little glass-topped coffee tables with magazines on them. There was a coffee machine in one corner, bubbling to itself, and a soft drink dispenser next to it. He had a feeling it wasn't a waiting room, though; the pictures on the walls were of galaxies and constellations, and the magazines on the tables were scientific journals.

On the sofa across from him, his brothers were still out cold. Manjoume considered waking them, and then decided against it. They had earned some rest.

The door to the lounge opened and Misawa darted in.

"Ah, good, you're awake," he said briskly.

"Oh, it's you," said Manjoume. "Where the heck are we?"

"At Professor Zweinstein's lab, of course," said Misawa. "That's where the portal is set to go. Are you feeling all right? No injuries? No disorientation, nausea, headaches, anything like that?"

"I'm fine! Geez, you'd think I'd never been to another dimension or something," Manjoume snapped. "What are you supposed to be, my doctor?"

Misawa made a note on a clipboard. "Perfectly normal, then. Good. You've been out for about two hours, by the way. You didn't seem to be in any particular distress so we thought you just needed some rest."

"Well, we did kind of have to fight our way through an army of monsters," said Manjoume. "Nothing we couldn't handle, though."

"Very good," said Misawa placidly. "Would you like to clean yourself up a bit? There's a bathroom through that door, and you're looking a bit dusty. I wouldn't normally say so, but Mr. Pegasus is here to make sure you're all faring well, and you'll probably want to look your best for him."

"Fine, fine," said Manjoume gruffly, but inwardly, he was pleased. It felt like forever since he'd had a chance to wash.

He spent several minutes over the sink, scrubbing every part of himself he could conveniently reach with soap and paper towels. By the time he returned, damp but dry, his brothers were stirring as well, so he chased them into the bathroom so they could have their turn to freshen up. While he waited for them, he regarded the soda machine, and idly fished in his pockets for change. The only coins he had left were monster-world money. He considered dropping them into the machine anyway to see what would happen.

Once his family was as clean as they were likely to get (Chosaku still had traces of purple on his skin from the inkberries), Misawa led them all out of the lounge and down a hallway into a different, more important looking room. A lot of men in white coats were running around, tinkering with computers very like what had been in the station at Tempest Top and talking to each other in serious tones. Pegasus was wandering among them, watching what they were doing and occasionally asking questions, and then listening as though he understood what they were telling him. Maybe he did.

When he caught sight of the brothers, though, he descended on them with a sunny smile, arms held wide, as though they were his dearest friends and he intended to embrace them. At the last minute, he changed his mind and shook their hands instead, each in turn.

"How good to see you all back safe and sound!" he said. "I don't mind saying that we were all a bit concerned about you."

"It was nothing we couldn't handle," said Manjoume. "Right, guys?"

"No problem," said Shoji, smiling slightly.

"Nothing to it," Chosaku agreed.

Pegasus smiled a little. "Is that so? No trouble at all? I had thought that under such hardship, there might be... a bit of friction among you all."

"What, us?" said Manjoume. "Nah, no way. We're family, right? We work best as a team."

"Well, that's good to hear," said Pegasus. "I can see my worries were misplaced. Anyway, I just came to say that I am very sorry that the three of you were put through all of this. The fault is entirely mine for not managing my security measures more effectively. If there is anything at all I can do to make up for it, just say the word, and if it is within my power, I will make it so."

Manjoume became aware of a misty presence off to his side, and he glanced up to see that his Ojamas had returned, and were now hovering over his shoulder, watching the proceedings. He was interested to see that his brothers had both turned their heads slightly the instant the monsters had appeared. Then they glanced at each other.

"Well," said Chasaku slowly, "now that you mention it, we could use a couple of cards..."

**The End**


End file.
